Invaders Need No One
by Crazygirl313
Summary: When a new girl comes to skool, Dib is convinced she's an alien.  But who really is this girl, and what does she really want?  And do Invaders really need no one?  Sad ending.  Now has a sequel!  After you read this, read Forgotten Love.
1. Tess: The Hideous New Girl

**I do not own Invader Zim or any of its characters. This goes for the entire story. I'm just too lazy to put it in every chapter.

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"Students, you have a new student today." Ms Bitters snarled at the class. A young girl with light purple hair and sky blue eyes entered the room. She wore a simple red dress and black shoes. She seemed nervous (and Bitters wasn't helping), but she was able to manage a smile.

"I'm Tess." She said. Her gaze slid over the class and stopped for a moment on Zim.

"Go to your seat, and I don't want to hear another word out of you!" Bitters screamed in the poor girl's ear. She made a quick sound that sounded a little like 'meep!' and ran to the only open seat in the room. Throughout the rest of the day, she continued to take quick glances to her right, toward Zim. Zim didn't notice.

Lunch wasn't too good for the new girl. She sat by herself, refusing the attention of anybody that came near her, which pretty much destroyed any chance Tess had at being popular. She spent the time staring at the grey glob on her plate and occasionally poking it with a spoon.

"Just look at her, Gaz." Dib muttered to his sister, who was so lost in her game she didn't even seem to hear him. "She is so an alien. Did you see the way she kept looking at Zim. They have to be on a team. I have to expose her."

Gaz opened one eye. "And what makes you think she's an alien?"

"Every new kid to this school ends up being an alien. Remember Tak? And Scoodge? And just look at her! She doesn't have a clue what she's doing! And she's not eating the food."

"I don't eat the skool lunch. Does that make me an alien?" Gaz didn't look up from her game.

Dib decided to do something about this new girl. He grabbed his tray and dropped it in the trash, then he walked over to Tess. She looked up.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh, don't you try your innocent little tricks on me!" Dib began to launch into his speech. Tess stared at him, confused. "I know your kind. Irken, right? Here to conquer the Earth with your little alien scum friend, Zim. Well, I can tell you right now, it's not going to work. I have stopped Zim every time-"

This was when Zim interrupted. "No you did not! The filthy Earth boy LIES! What about the time I infested the city with mutant vermin? You didn't stop me then, did you Dib-Monkey? I AM ZIM!" He looked around at the stares he was getting. "I mean, umm, I love Earth!" He grabbed the nearest kid to him and hugged him.

Dib turned back to Tess, who was still looking at Zim. He opened his mouth to continue his verbal assault, but right then, the bell rang. Dib growled as everyone, including Tess, ran for the doors.

The class ran out the front door on the Skool. A few of the kids just jumped out the window. Dib watched the flow carefully for one face in particular. Light purple hair and sky blue eyes. And soon enough, the girl in question came bounding down the steps. She glanced at Zim, who was standing under a tree, but didn't talk to him.

_Oh, she's good, _Dib thought_. But not good enough._

He carefully stalked her to her house. It was a simple one, with one story and small yard. The only thing strange about it was it's bright green paint job. Tess opened the fence gate.

"Stop right there, alien scum!"

Tess turned around fast, completely shocked to hear Dib. "Did you follow me?" She asked, a little breathlessly.

Dib didn't answer, he simply reached behind him and pulled a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket. "Alien Handcuffs. Guaranteed to render any alien life forms unconscious."

"How do you know it works if you've never caught an alien?" She asked, which turned out to be the wrong thing to say, since it had been what Zim had said to Dib a year before. This only fed Dib's need to 'expose' her.

He smiled evilly. "I'm gonna find out right now!" Then, laughing like a crazed maniac, Dib launched himself at Tess.

The girl screamed and jumped out of the way. Then she took off down the street. Dib followed. Tess was able to lead him in a large circle, and come back around to her house. Then, breathing hard, she ran up to the door and locked herself inside the little green house. Tess sagged against the door and sighed. Dib ran up to the door and began pounding on it.

"You haven't won, Alien! I will stop you!" He kicked at the door. "You can't hide in there forever, and if you can, I'll wait forever!"

After a few minutes, a police car drove up and two officers came out. They grabbed the crazed little boy and dragged him back to the car and drove away. Tess peeked out her window and watched him go. She sighed again, this time in relief.

* * *

Dib was still in jail the next day, and even his father couldn't get him out. The day after that one, he was back in school. Tess kept away from him, and shied away every time he came near. After the first day, she never bought lunch again. Instead, she packed a bag lunch, like Gaz. Dib just took all this as more evidence for her being an alien.

"Just look, Gaz." Dib muttered. "Everybody thinks she's so normal. Well, I can stop her, and then it's only a a matter of time before she ends up on an alien autopsy table. And then, no one will think I'm crazy. Oh, they'll see. They'll all see!"

Gaz looked up at her brother. "Why are you talking to me? Do I have to show you what happens to people who talk to me, again?"

Dib ignored her threats. "I have to stop her."

Gaz saw an opportunity. "Yes, go stop her. And when you're arrested again, I can have the house all to myself."

Dib picked up his muffin and chucked it at her. The muffin bounced off Tess's head, and she looked up quickly to see who did it. Her eyes slid onto Zim, where they stopped for a moment before continuing their sweep across the room. Finding no one to blame, she tossed the muffin into the nearest garbage can.

Dib got up and walked up to her. She looked startled at his approached and began marking where all of the possible escape routs were in her head.

"Your crummy little disguise won't fool me." He snarled.

"I don't know what your talking about." She stared at him with her sky blue eyes.

"I think you do. Now, just know, that one day, you will be stopped." He left the confused girl and walked back to his spot nest to Gaz.

This happened for a few days. Tess sat quietly, occasionally looking over at Zim. Zim didn't notice her. Dib tried to find evidence that she was an alien without being arrested again. Then, about a week later, Dib decided to take the offensive. He would prove to the world that she was an alien. And he didn't care who tried to stop him.

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**Ok, I would just like to say that I'm going to try to keep my A/N s short, and they will always be at the end of a chapter and in bold. Now, this story is going to get really sad at the end, so if you don't like sad endings, don't read the rest of it. I was bored and slightly depressed when I thought of this story, and I like it. It will get more exciting after this chapter, though. **

**Please review. **


	2. Defender of Earth?

Dib watched Tess walk home. He had spied on her enough to know that she passed through an ally as a shortcut. As soon as she turned into it, he attacked.

"I have you now, alien scum!" He jumped on her.

Tess barely had enough time to turn around before Dib landed on her. The breath was knocked out of her, so she couldn't scream. Dib grabbed her arm and twisted it, causing her to flip over. She rolled a few times, and both kids ended up on the sidewalk outside the ally. A few kids from skool saw them and circled them to watch the fight. Dib kicked her in the stomach, and she groaned with pain. Tess tried to punch him back, but he dodged and pushed her down.

"Fight, fight, fight!" The crowd chanted. A few girls caught up to the seine. They screamed and Zita ran to Torque Smacky and convinced him to stop them. Torque grabbed Dib and pulled him away from the girl. Despite the fact that she was unpopular, Zita and Jessica helped Tess up.

Everyone glared at Dib. "What were you thinking?" Jessica yelled. "You could have killed her!"

"She's an alien, and she wants to take over the world! I'm saving your lives!" Dib shouted back. "You should be thanking me!"

Zita and Jessica helped Tess walk home, and Torque gave Dib the wedgie of a lifetime. Then everyone scattered and left Dib in the dust. _I'll show them,_ he thought. _ And then they'll be sorry. Tess isn't going to fool me._

Dib walked home, and decided to start on his next plan on attack.

Tess was bruised, and had a few cuts. She still sat by herself at lunch, but at a table a little closer to the popular one. Or, actually, she sat in the same place, but the popular kids moved their table closer to hers. No one could resist a hurt little girl, especially if she had been hurt by insane Dib. Tess didn't talk to anyone, be seemed grateful for the company. After skool, Dib watched her leave the building again. This time, there was almost a wall of popular kids to get by before you could get to Tess. Like I said before, no one could resist helping out a hurt little girl.

Dib's plan didn't need for him to get close. He had a bucket of water placed on top of the building, right above the stairs. Attached to it was a string. Dib held the other end. He watched until the group was under the bucket, and pulled with all his might The bucket fell down and dumped it's contents all over the group. The screams were heard, and Dib watched for Tess's reaction. She seemed horrified and frightened, but wasn't burning. Dib frowned. She must have bathed in paste. Zim had probably told her of the effects of water on his kind. He would need a new plan.

The next day at lunch Dib still did't have a plan. He looked down at the food on his tray. Nothing good there. He looked over at what Gaz was eating. Some leftover Pizza and a bologna sandwich. Bingo! Bologna was a meat that burns Irkens and fuses to their skin. Dib grabbed the sandwich and took out the meat. Gaz snarled at him.

"You had better give me back my sandwich right now, or I will plunge you into a nightmare world from which there is no awakening!" She looked at her brother darkly.

Dib didn't notice. He chucked the bologna toward Tess. It sailed over her head, and everyone looked up and watched it land in the Lunch Lady's hair. Everyone turned to Dib. Before someone could kill him, the Lunch Lady stomped over. She was a large, plump woman with grey hair pulled up into her hair net. She held the bologna in Dib's face.

"Did you through this at me?" She spat out.

Dib stuttered nervously. "No, I, umm, well, I mean yes, but, I didn't, well, I would never, um..."

The Lunch Lady picked Dib up by his trench coat and hurled him out the window. Gaz snickered. The room cheered.

Dib needed another new plan.

* * *

It was another mandatory skool spirit assembly in the auditorium. Dib watched Tess enter the room. She didn't notice him in the crowd. As she passed, Dib grabbed at her hair and yanked. She squealed, and the popular kids around her turned on Dib. Dib was surprised. For a hologram, that was realistic hair.

He got another wedgie and one of the kids stole his glasses. He found them on the floor a few minutes later, cracked.

Throughout the assembly, he watched her. Tess, with her light purple hair, sitting a few rows ahead of him. Zim, about nine seats to the left of her. She glanced to her left. Zim was good. He didn't look back.

Dib had brought some barbecue sauce with him to skool. He remembered Tak spraying Zim with it and Zim sizzling and screaming. One squirt and he would know if she was Irken.

The assembly ended, and in the rush to leave the auditorium, Dib was able to end up near Tess. One squirt. That was all he needed. He aimed it at her. And-

Everyone ran out into the sun. Tess's popular bodyguards surrounded her again. Dib raised his sauce again, and aimed at her exposed hand. One squirt, and he could have proof.

He squeezed the bottle.

Tess yelped and grabbed her hand. Dib was pretty sure he saw smoke.

Everyone turned to Dib.

"See! An alien! Humans don't get burned from barbecue sauce!" Dib shouted. Finally, proof!

"I'm allergic to barbecue sauce!" Tess shouted back. She held her hand close to her body, her face contracted in pain.

Dib's smile faded. "Don't believe the alien! Who's heard of a barbecue sauce allergy?"

"You just have to call everyone an alien, huh Dib?" Sara said. "What's wrong with you? Don't you see your just hurting Tess? Leave her alone."

Torque smacked Dib in the back of the head, and everyone walked away.

_

* * *

What did Irkens hate?_ Dib thought to himself as he walked home. _What can I use against her? Get a picture without her disguise on? Find out her plan?_

Gaz looked at him sideways. "Your weird." She said.

"Maybe I should go spy on Zim. If I can get any information from him, maybe I can use it against Tess." Dib said out loud. "I'll catch up with you later, Gaz. I'm gonna go spy on Zim." He ran in the direction of his enemy's house.

A few minutes later, Dib was hanging upside-down by one of the computer's mechanical arms. Zim stood in front of him, laughing. Well, at least he had gotten to the underground base part of the house before getting caught.

"You really thought you could spy on me, Dib-monkey? Well I laugh at your pathetic attempt! HAHAHAHA! I AM ZIM!"

Dib looked around the room. "Alright, where is she?"

Zim stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes. "Where's who?"

"Tess. Or should I say 'Invader' Tess. I know you two are working together. So you had better just give up now." Dib snarled.

"I have no idea what your talking about. I know of no Invader Tess. That 'Tess' girl in our skool is not Irken."

Dib could always tell when Zim was lying, and now was not one of those times.

_Not Irken._ The words rang through his head. Every time he had attacked her, every fearful look she gave him, every time he threatened her...

_Not Irken. _

Just another human girl.

That he had hurt.

He always called himself the Sole Defender of Earth.

But now he had repeatedly hurt someone innocent, did he really deserve that title?

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**Poor Dib, poor Tess. Things start to get really interesting in the next chapter. **


	3. Not Who You Think I Am

Dib looked at Tess for what felt like the first time. She really was pretty. Light purple hair that flowed down her back, sky blue eyes so full of light, pale skin that looked like porcelain. He hadn't spoken to anyone in a week. He had barely even looked at her since he had found out she really wasn't Irken. He felt so ashamed.

Dib looked at Tess again. She was smiling. He bruises had all but disappeared. And she had finally allowed herself to make friends with Zita, Jessica, and the rest of the popular kids.

Dib found himself wondering if she would ever forgive him. He stared her from across the room, watching the way her hair rippled when she moved. He heard the light musical sound of her voice, the tinkling of her laughter.

Gaz sat beside him. She had stopped questioning his strange behavior after a few days. Zim had found it fun to torment him, since Dib wasn't in the mood to fight back.

A glob of mashed potatoes smacked into his forehead, and Zim's laughter was heard. Most of the other children in the lunch room had stopped paying attention to their quarrels. Dib quickly wiped the potatoes off his head before they dripped into his eyes. He could still remember what had happened to Zita.

_I really have to say something to Tess._ Dib thought, making sure he wasn't speaking out loud. _Tonight. I'll see her tonight._

_

* * *

_That night, Dib walked the streets alone. He found his way to Tess's house and stood, looking into her yard. Slowly, he undid the latch on the fence's door and stepped onto the stone walkway. Dib stopped walking when he reached the front door.

"Ok, you can do this," Dib whispered to himself. He raised his hand to the doorbell and pushed. For a while, nothing happened, and Dib wondered if Tess was home. Then, the door opened a crack.

"Can I help you?" Tess's voice rang out from inside.

Dib sighed. "I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry for calling you an alien, and trying to prove you were one." He slowly whispered the words. "It's just that, well, I know for certain that this kid in my class is an alien, and he wants to take over the planet. I know how that sounds, but, well, every time we got a new kid in class, it was an alien trying to exterminate the human race. First Zim came, then Tak, then Scoodge, and, well, it doesn't matter. You're not an alien and I'm sorry I thought you were. It's ok if you don't believe me, but..." Dib couldn't think of anything else to say.

The door opened a little more. Dib could see Tess's face now, and a light behind her. _Her face is so pretty..._ Dib found himself thinking. Delicate eyebrows curved over large eyes. Large, sparkling eyes, blue, the color of the sky on a cloudless day. She had a small nose and a simple mouth. Soft, pale, skin, and her face was framed by light purple hair, that rippled like water when she moved. Dib was captivated for a moment by the beauty he had never noticed in her.

Tess smiled at him, and her clear, blue eyes shone. "I heard you have a thing for fairy tails." She said.

"Er, not fairy tails, paranormal research." He corrected.

She smiled a little more. Tess opened the door all the way. "I understand." She said. Dib could immediately see that there was so much meaning in those words. She was saying that she understood why he had attacked her, and that she forgave him. That she understood his paranormal hobbies, and wouldn't criticize them, even if she didn't believe them. She understood the difference between fairy tails and paranormal research. She understood him.

Dib felt a warmth blossom in his chest, unlike any he had ever felt before. To be forgiven, to be understood. He smiled back.

"Just let me know if I can ever help you with anything." Dib said. He still felt like owed her

"Well, for right now, could you just walk me to Zim's house? Ms Bitters asked me to help him with his report." Tess said.

"Zim! But he's the-" Dib stopped.

"Alien?" Tess finished for him. Dib nodded sadly.

"I think I can handle it." Tess smiled again. Dib wanted to protect her, but he also wanted to just do as she said. He sighed. Whether he walked with her or not, Tess would go to Zim's house. The least he could do would be to walk her there and make sure she wasn't mugged on the way. It was pretty dark out.

"Alright, lets go."

Tess stepped out onto the lawn and looked up at the stars. It was a clear night, and the twinkling lights reflected in her eyes. "It's so nice out." She said.

Dib couldn't stop looking at her eyes, and the sparking diamonds that reflected in them. "Yea, it is."

* * *

They arrived at Zim's house a few minutes later. Tess said good night and Dib watched her walk up to the house.

_You had better not do anything to her, Zim, _Dib thought. He turned back in the direction of his house and walked away.

Tess stood at the door of Zim's house, and watched Dib leave. He really was sweet. She turned back to the job at hand: knocking on the door.

Tess stared at the door for a few minutes. Then, she took a deep breath. _You can do this,_ she thought to herself.

Slowly, her hand reached out and formed a fist. Quickly, she tapped her knuckles on the door. A few seconds trickled by. _What if he's not here?_ She thought. But no sooner had the thought passed through her head, then the door quickly swung open. Zim stood in the doorway, his lenses and wig on.

"What are you doing here?" He asked.

Tess took another deep breath. There was no going back now. "We need to talk."

* * *

Tess sat on Zim's couch. Zim had stuffed Gir down into his underground base. The last thing he needed was for his incompetent robot to start talking in his dog costume.

Tess opened her mouth to speak. "I'm not who you think I am."

"Huh?" Zim didn't understand. She was a regular human female who had joined his class. Who else could she possible be?

She sighed and reached a hand over to her bracelet and pushed a button on it. Her skin turned green and her hair disappeared as her hologram turned off. Zim gasped as the little human female turned into a beautiful Irken girl.

She had curly antennae and sky blue eyes. By Irken standards, she was quite pretty.

"My name is Invader Tenn." she said.

Zim recovered from his shock at finding out she was Irken. "No it isn't! Tenn has pink eyes. Yours are blue!"

Tenn sighed.

"You didn't let me finish." She said, reverting back to her own language: Irken, "I can explain, just listen. We went to the Academy together, and I used to watch you work. You were so eager to please! I loved the way you would blow things up. You always tried so hard, and even if you did bad, you weren't affected. You were so strong. Every time I saw you, I got all warm inside. As we got older, the feeling didn't go away. But we were training to be Invaders, and it was always so hard. I depended on you for support. Even though you didn't know it, I used your strength to give me strength. If it wasn't for you, Zim, I never would have made it out of the Academy. But then, operation Impending Doom failed, and you were sent away. I thought I would never see you again. But you came back, at the Great Assigning. We were both assigned to planets: I got Meekrob, and you got Earth. Once again, we were separated. I tried to stay away, but I needed to see you again. I can't explain why, but I needed to see you.

Then I found out that the Tallest were sending me a Megadoomer and you some malfunctioning SIR units. I bribed Smikka Smikka Smoodoo to switch the labels on the packages, so that the SIR units would be sent to me. I knew that they would destroy everything, and probably hurt me, too. And I was right. They ate everything. That gave me some vacation time while I waited for the ruins to be cleaned up and the Meekrob to stop thinking I was Irken. I wasn't hurt badly during the whole thing, but the SIR units did manage to hurt my eyes. The doctors had to give me new ones. That's why they're blue now. I did all this so that I could find this planet Earth, so I could find you. Because..."

The Irken language didn't have a word for what she wanted to say. She switched to back to English. "Because I love you."

Zim frowned. Then he said the phrase that had been pounded into his head in the Academy. The only way to tell Tenn how he really felt. "Invaders need no one."

Tenn's antennae sagged. But Zim wasn't done yet.

"Invaders need no one. So perhaps it would have been better if you had not finished the Academy. Perhaps you are not suited to be an Invader." Zim stared her down. He had no feelings for the creature that sat in front of him.

Tenn looked down. "Is that how you really feel?" She asked.

"Yes." Zim answered.

Tenn's eyes glazed over. It was as close to crying as an Irken could do. "Alright then." She had trouble keeping her voice steady. Tenn stood up and pressed a button on her glove. Her hologram turned back on, and she was once again Tess. "If that's how you really feel."

Tess walked over to the door and walked out. It was all she could do to keep from running down the street full speed and shouting to the sky. She should have known. He would never have her. She would never be good enough for him. Tess had heard all of the Irkens mocking Zim, and the Tallest trying to embarrassed him in front of everyone. Giving him a fake mission. She had seen it. They all thought that he was stupid and defective because he didn't notice. But she knew better. Zim wasn't defective. He wasn't stupid. He was strong. He was better than any of them could ever hope to be.

He wasn't tall, but he was better.

* * *

The next day, Tess was alone. She refused the company of anyone. She stared at her food during lunch, but didn't even touch it. Zim didn't seem to notice. But Dib did.

He watched her, beautiful as always, even in her sorrow. What had Zim done to her? Just before he had dropped her off at his house, she had been happy and shining. Now, there was no longer any light in her eyes, and no longer any smile on her face. She looked like she should be crying tears into her food.

Dib stood up and walked over to Zim.

"What did you do to Tess?" He demanded.

Zim looked like he could care less. "I did nothing, Dib-Worm. She helped me with my essay and then left. Maybe it was something _you_ did to her?"

That took Dib by surprise, and Zim saw that he had hit a nerve. "What did you do to her, Earth Monkey?"

Dib thought. Something he had said? No, it couldn't be. She had seemed happy. Peaceful. "She was fine until she saw you last night."

"Oh, was she?" Zim was playing with him now, seeing what he would do.

"Yes, she was, I didn't do anything to Tess. Did I?" Dib lost his fight. He slowly walked back to his table.

Skool emptied at the end of the day. Zim and Tess crossed paths once. Tess still had a glazed look in her eyes, you could even see it through the hologram. She whispered something to him before she left him for the final time.

"Goodbye, Zim."

* * *

**Long chapter. So, now you know. Tenn/Tess is here because of Zim. And Dib really isn't the bad guy. Wow, this is my third chapter in one day. If I keep going at this pace, I might have the entire story done by tonight. By the way, this story is not finished yet. There will be a total of five chapters. **


	4. Broken Hearts

Zim went on with his life. He didn't care. Tenn was only another Invader to him, and now someone who didn't deserve to be one. Maybe after he conquered Earth, he could ask the Tallest to let him invade Meekrob next.

It was Dib who cared.

Dib noticed when Tess didn't show up at skool the next day. He noticed when no one answered her door. He noticed that no one else seemed to care.

After Dib and Tess had forgiven each other, and Tess had lost that whole 'kicked puppy' look, the popular kids had ditched her. So they didn't care that she went missing.

Dib waited, day after day. He waited to know if she was alright, to know if she would ever come back.

Day after day, no one answered the door. Day after day, she didn't come to class. Day after day, Dib's heart hurt.

Sometimes he wondered if Zim had put some nano-device in his chest while he slept that was slowly killing him. It felt like it.

* * *

As Dib wondered at his pain, Zim began to feel a similar one. Over and over in his head, he saw Tenn looking at him with her big, blue eyes. He saw he walk out the door. He heard her say goodbye.

Zim reviewed his smeethood, and his years at the Academy. He thought back to the time he was eager to do well, and trying to be the best despite his hight. His Pak held all of his memories, and Zim tapped into them one day. And he saw clearly from his own eyes, a small smeet watching him, her pink eyes smiling as he passed the challenge. He felt his own mouth smile in return. He saw her watch him intensely before it was her turn, and he saw her glance at him when she had trouble. He watched his life over again, and realized that Tenn had been in it more times than he originally knew.

At skool, he would suddenly think he saw a bit of light purple hair and turn quickly, but it wasn't her.

Or a glimpse of sky blue eyes when he walked by her house.

These visions haunted him, and he suddenly realized that he wanted to see her again.

* * *

Both boys found it harder and harder to concentrate at skool. Zim couldn't think of any more evil plans. And Dib couldn't think of any ways to expose him.

Finally, a few weeks after Tess had left, Dib decided she wasn't coming back. And he knew who to blame.

It was Saturday morning, so there was no skool. It was also the first day of Summer Vacation. Dib almost ran all the way to Zim's house. He didn't bother watching out for the gnomes. He didn't care about that any more. Dib kicked open the door and stomped in. Zim sat on the couch with Gir. They were both eating out of an Irken snack bag.

Dib grabbed Zim's shirt and shook the alien.

"What did you do to Tess?" He snarled.

Zim slapped Dib's hand off his shirt. "I told you already, I did nothing to her."

"Oh yea? Then how come the day after she 'helps you with your project,' she does into a depression and then disappears? What did you do to her?"

Dib thought he saw a glint of some emotion in Zim's red eyes, but then it was gone and there was no way to tell if he had imagined it or not.

"I can assure you, Dib, that everything Tenn- er, Tess did was under her own will."

Dib caught the mistake. "Who's Tenn, and what does she have to do with Tess?"

Zim growled at him, and then the anger seemed to leak out of his eyes. Zim slumped down on his couch and covered his face with his hands.

"Tenn is Tess. They're the same person." He said quietly.

"That doesn't make any sense! How can two people be the same person?" Dib demanded.

Zim sighed. "Tenn is an Irken Invader. We went to the Academy together. She came here with a hologram and called herself Tess. She came to see me." Zim whispered the words as though they pained him.

Dib was stunned. So he had been half right. She had been an alien, but hadn't wanted to take over the world. The one thing Dib couldn't understand was why she had left and why Zim was acting like this. Unless...

_'She came here to see me.'_ Those were the words Zim had spoken. Did he mean, she had come here because she loved him? The thought sent spasms of pain through his heart. But still didn't explain why she had left sad, and why Zim was now moping around.

Unless he had turned her down.

That's how Dib realized what had happened that night.

"You idiot!" Dib exclaimed, with so much force that Zim sat up and looked at him through glossy eyes. "She was in love with you! And you turned her down! Did it ever occur to you to at least say it nicely so she wouldn't leave? Did you ever think that maybe someone else could love her back?"

Dib felt tears begin to well up in his eyes, and he pushed them away. He always had. He had never given the bullies at skool the satisfaction of seeing him cry. He had never let his father's absence bring him to tears. He especially wouldn't Zim see him weak.

"You didn't love her," Dib said quietly. "And now she's gone."

"No, that's not true." Zim said, as though he was only just realizing the truth in his words. "I did love her. I just didn't know it."

Both boys sat in silence for a few seconds, lost in their own thoughts.

"Zim, where did she go?" Dib looked up at the ceiling, as though he could see through the roof and into the sky above, and maybe even find Tenn.

"Meekrob." Zim answered. "He mission is on Meekrob. That's where I'll find her."

He stood up and walked into his attic where his Voot Cruiser was stored.

"Wait, I'm coming." Dib said.

"Only if you have your own ship," Zim stated, not wanting the human boy in his Voot. And forgetting that Dib did have his own ship.

"I'll go get it." Dib ran out of the house.

* * *

A few minutes later, two ships left Earth's atmosphere. One was an Irken Voot Cruiser, and the one behind it was a modified Spittle Runner. The Voot aimed itself in the direction of the planet Meekrob, and the other followed. Both went into light-speed and left the Earth behind.

* * *

**I call this the Love Triangle of Doom. Tenn loves Zim, Zim didn't love Tenn until she left, Dib didn't love Tenn until he thought she was human, then both Zim and Dib love Tenn, and that's all we know so far. **

**The next chapter is the last one, and I won't be putting in an author's note. Just note that it is really sad, so if you don't like sad endings, don't read it. **

**Please review.**


	5. Sky Blue Eyes

The planet Meekrob was a wasteland. All of its living inhabitants had fled. All that remained was the debris, still waiting for the clean up crews to arrive. The Irkens had gained another planet.

Zim and Dib landed their ships and stepped out. Zim surveyed the landscape. A war had taken place here, and had left behind only ashes of a once great civilization. Nothing lived there anymore. He slowly took a step forward. If Tenn wasn't here, he didn't know where else to look for her. He began to turn around, but something caught his eye. A slight hint of sky blue in the endless field of black and grey ashes. Zim turned to face the color and began walking. Dib saw his movement and followed.

_No, _Zim thought as he drew closer. _Oh, Tallest, no._

For in the ashes lay a single Irken body, fluids seeping out of wounds around her middle section. One had pierced her Squeedly Spooch. Her unseeing sky blue eyes forever watched the sky.

Zim fell to his knees beside the one he now knew he loved.

Tenn had never been much of a fighter. That was why she had become an Invader, not a soldier. But somehow, she had ended up needing to fight. And she had lost.

_Invaders need no one. _Zim thought_. That couldn't be further from the truth. _

_Invaders need no one. _He looked around. Tenn's was the only Irken body near here. He looked back to her._ This Invader needed someone. Someone to aid her in battle, or to hold her hand as the light faded from her eyes and the life from her veins. _

Invaders need no one. He was an Invader, and he needed her.

* * *

This was the first time Dib had seen Tenn without her holographic disguise on. But he could still recognize the curves of her body and the blue of her eyes, now fogged in death. He knelt beside her, as Zim was, and carefully extended a hand to guide her eyes shut. Dib looked down at the corpse of the girl he loved, and a single tear rolled down his face and landed in the ashes next to him. Then another, and another. Dib closed his eyes, and for the first time in his life, cried.

_Why? _he asked silently._ Why did she have to die? I don't care that she was Irken. I don't care that she destroyed a planet. It doesn't matter anymore. I love her._

* * *

Invaders need no one. That's what they were taught. Emotions were useless and led to failure. Zim look around again. No one had come to Tenn's rescue. The only footprints near her were her's, his, and Dib's. No one had come to her rescue, because they were Irken. They were machines. They did as they were told and tore apart people's lives. They destroyed planets because they wanted to and left only ruin in their wake. They left their own kind alone to die. Zim looked down at the tragedy in front of him and the crying boy at his side. This is what he had been taught, no, programed, to do and to enjoy. This was Irken.

_No, _Zim thought_. No longer. I am no longer Irken. I will not do this anymore. Irk is no longer my home._

_Maybe it had never been._

He stood up and walked back over to his ship. In a matter of days, this planet would be paved over and made into whatever the Tallest saw fit, and Tenn's body would be destroyed.

Zim touched the controls of his ship. Dib walked over to Tak's ship in a daze and entered.

Zim angled his Voot into the sky and turned it toward the only place he had left to call home.

The planet with a sky the color of Tenn's sky blue eyes.


End file.
